Health Indicator Report of Lung Cancer Deaths

Why Is This Important?

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in Utah and the U.S. Because symptoms often do not appear until the disease is advanced, early detection of this cancer is difficult.
Cigarette smoking is the single most important risk factor for lung cancer. There are more than 80 carcinogens in cigarette smoke. Other risk factors include occupational or environmental exposure to secondhand smoke, radon, asbestos (particularly among smokers), certain metals (chromium, cadmium, arsenic), some organic chemicals, radiation, air pollution, and probably a medical history of tuberculosis. Genetic susceptibility plays a contributing role in the development of lung cancer, especially in those who develop the disease at a younger age.

Health Objectives and Targets

Healthy People Objective: Reduce the lung cancer death rate

Other Objectives

Current Outlook

How Are We Doing?

Utah's age-adjusted lung cancer mortality rate significantly decreased from 26.4 per 100,000 population in 2004 to 17.2 per 100,000 population in 2017.
From 2013-2017 the lung cancer mortality rate ranged from a high of *45.2 per 100,000 population in the Magna Small Area to a low of 7.4 per 100,000 population in the Centerville Small Area (*interpret with caution, figure does not meet UDOH standards for reliability).

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

The age-adjusted lung cancer mortality rate in Utah is significantly less than the U.S. rate and has consistently been roughly half the national lung cancer mortality rate. For example, in 2017, the U.S. lung cancer mortality rate was 36.6 per 100,000 population whereas the Utah lung cancer mortality rate was 17.2 per 100,000 population.

Health Improvement Resources

What Is Being Done?

Since nearly 90% of lung cancer deaths are attributed to smoking, public health programs aim to reduce lung cancer by focusing on tobacco prevention and control. Utah's statewide Tobacco Prevention and Control Program coordinates efforts to accomplish the following four goals: prevent youth from starting to use tobacco, help tobacco users quit, eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke, and reduce tobacco-related disparities.
In addition, the Utah Department of Health initiated the Utah Cancer Action Network (UCAN), a statewide partnership whose goal is to reduce the burden of cancer. The mission of the UCAN is to lower cancer incidence and mortality in Utah through collaborative efforts directed toward cancer prevention and control. As a result of this planning process, objectives and strategies have been developed by community partners regarding the early detection of cervical, breast, and colorectal cancers as well as the promotion of physical activity, healthy eating habits, melanoma cancer prevention and cancer survivorship advocacy.

Available Services

The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP) provides technical expertise and coordination at state and community levels to prevent and reduce tobacco use in Utah. TPCP programs include statewide and community based services to help smokers quit, The TRUTH anti-tobacco marketing campaign, and youth tobacco prevention partnerships with local health departments, schools, and community agencies. Further efforts to reduce the negative health effects of tobacco use focus on strengthening tobacco-free policies and reducing youth access to tobacco products. The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program monitors smoking prevalence among adult Utahns through the statewide Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and among students through the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Health Program Information

Free services that assist smokers with quitting include the Utah Tobacco Quit Line, a web-based cessation service, and school- and community-based quit programs for teens, adults, and pregnant women. Access to all of these resources are available at [https://www.quitnow.net/Utah/].

Utah DOH

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